While some average interest rates on credit concessions fall, interest on revolving credit cards rose 11.5 percentage points for families in September, reaching 438.4% per year. Even with the rotation limitation in force since the beginning of the year, Interest rates continue to vary without a significant drop over the months.
The measure aims to reduce debt, but does not affect the interest rate agreed at the time of granting the credit, only applying to new financing. In the 12 months ended in September, interest rates fell 2.7 percentage points. The data comes from Monetary and Credit Statistics released this Wednesday (30), in Brasília, by the Central Bank (BC).
Revolving credit lasts 30 days and is taken by the consumer when they pay less than the full amount of the credit card bill. In other words, you take out a loan and start paying interest on the amount you were unable to repay. The modality is one of the highest on the market.
After 30 days, financial institutions pay the credit card debt in installments. In this case of the installment card, interest rose 3.8 percentage points in the month and fell 8 percentage points in 12 months, reaching 185.8% per year.
free credit
In total, the average interest rate on free credit grants to families increased by 0.5 percentage points in September, but accumulated a reduction of 4.9 percentage points (pp) in 12 months, reaching 52.4% per year . Contributing to the drop in average accumulated interest rates, there were reductions in payroll loans, vehicle purchases, check cashing and leasing.
These statistics also include interest on special checks, which rose 4.2 percentage points in the month and 3.2 percentage points in 12 months, reaching 137.1% per year. Since 2020, the modality has limited interest at 8% per month (151.82% per year), but the end of the fall in the Selic rate (basic interest in the economy) and the increase in defaults are reflected in the rise in average interest rates in the special check.
In operations with companies, average interest on free credit fell by 0.3 percentage points in September and by 2.2 percentage points in 12 months, reaching 20.7% per year. The reductions in working capital rates with terms of less than 365 days (9.1 percentage points) and revolving credit cards (29 percentage points) stood out. On the other hand, there was an increase of 6.5 percentage points in special checks in September.
Average rate
In free credit, banks have the autonomy to lend money raised in the market and define the interest rates charged to customers. In targeted credit, the rules are established by the government and are basically intended for the housing, rural, infrastructure and microcredit sectors, with subsidized interest granted by official banks or with resources from the Service Time Guarantee Fund – FGTS – or savings account.
In the case of targeted credit, the average rate for individuals was 9.9% per year in September, a reduction of 0.1 percentage point in the month and 0.6 percentage point in 12 months. For companies, the rate fell 1.7 percentage points in the month and 1.1 percentage points in 12 months, reaching 10.3% per year.
As a result, considering free and earmarked resources for families and companies, the average interest rate on concessions in September decreased by 0.1 percentage points in the month and 2.6 percentage points in 12 months, reaching 27.6% per year.
“In the monthly variation, the effect of changes in interest rates (rate effect) proved to be more significant than the effect resulting from changes in the composition of portfolios (balance effect). In this context, the highlights were the reductions in average working capital rates with a term of less than 365 days (9.1 percentage points) in corporate credit and the increase in revolving credit cards (11.5 percentage points) in credit to families”, informed the BC.
Operation balances
In September, credit concessions increased by 2.2%, reaching R$636.4 billion, the result of an increase of 0.8% for individuals and 3.9% for companies. Grants of targeted credit fell 7.4% in the month, while free credit rose 3.7%.
As a result, the stock of all loans granted by banks in the National Financial System (SFN) stood at R$6.179 trillion, an increase of 1.2% compared to August.
The result reflected an increase of 1.6% in the balance of credit operations agreed with legal entities (R$ 2.374 trillion) and an increase of 1% in that of individuals (R$ 3.804 trillion). In the interannual comparison, total credit grew 9.9% in September.
Extended credit to the non-financial sector – which is credit available to companies, families and governments, regardless of the source (banking, bond market or external debt) – reached R$17.486 trillion, with a reduction of 0.5% in the month and an increase of 12.6% in 12 months. The main factor behind this decrease in the month is attributed to public debt securities and external loans, which fell 1.5% and 3.1%, respectively.
Family debt
According to the Central Bank, default rates – delays of more than 90 days – have remained stable for a long time, with small fluctuations. It registered 3.2% in September. In operations for individuals, it stands at 3.8%, and for legal entities at 2.4%.
Household indebtedness – the relationship between the balance of debts and accumulated income over 12 months – stood at 47.9% in August, an increase of 0.1 percentage point in the month and a drop of 0.4% in 12 months. Excluding real estate financing, which takes a considerable amount of income, debt was 29.9% last month.
Income commitment – the relationship between the average value for paying debts and the average income calculated in the period – was 26.8% in August, an increase of 0.4 percentage points over the month and a reduction of 0.4% in 12 months.
These last two indicators are presented with a greater lag from the month of publication, as the Central Bank uses data from the National Household Sample Survey (Pnad), from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
